I wouldn't say any of these are exactly PROFOUND since some form of these quotes exist in a lot of books. But at the time when I read them, I *really* needed to hear their messages. ♥1.

“You have suffered a tragedy most could neither imagine, nor endure. Yet here you stand, breathing, living. Which is the most difficult thing to do. People often admire physical strength, but I believe it’s the simple things one does after a tragedy that defines them. There is no greater show of power than continuing to live when you’d like nothing more than to lie down and let the world fade.” -Thomas

2.

And that’s how you go on. You lay laughter over the dark parts. The more dark parts, the more you have to laugh.

3.

“Be prepared for the worst, my love, for it lives next door to the best.”

4.

“That's what we do. We walk a tightrope every day. Getting out the door is a tightrope. Going grocery shopping is a tightrope. Socializing is a tightrope. Things that most people consider to be normal, daily parts of life are the very things we fear and struggle with the most, and yet here we are, moving forward anyway. That's not weak.”5.

What would they call his family in the textbooks? Broken? He comes from a broken home. The Mackees can't be put back together again. There are too many pieces of them missing.(about grief)7.

“Well, you change as you get older, especially at this time in your life. You become more yourself, hopefully. And sometimes that changes the dynamic, even with people you love. So it's not that you were wrong. You were right for that time. But you grow up and you grow out of relationships. Even the ones you thought, at one point, might be forever.”8.

"But some people are just starfish--they need everyone to fill the roles that they assign. They need the world to sit around them, pointing at them and validating their feelings. But you can't spend your life trying to make a starfish happy, because no matter what you do, it will never be enough. They will always find a way to make themselves the center of attention, because it's the only way they know how to live."9.

“You be as angry as you need to be. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not your grandma, not your dad, no one. And if you need to break things, then by God, you break them good and hard.”10.

"So imagine we're all born with a set of feelings. Some are broader or deeper than others, but for everyone, there's that ground floor, a bottom crust of the pie. That's the maximum depth of feeling you've ever experienced. And then, the worst thing happens to you. The very worst thing that could have happened. The thing you had nightmares about as a child, and you thought, ti's all right because that thing will happen to me when I'm older and wiser, and I'll have felt so many feelings by then that this one worst feeling, the worst possible feeling, won't seem so terrible.But it happens to you when you're young. It happens when your brain isn't even fully done cooking--when you've barely experienced anything, really. The worst thing is one of the first big things that ever happens to you in your life. It happens to you, and it goes all the way down to the bottom of what you know how to feel, and it rips it open and carves out this chasm down below to make room. And because you were so young, and because it was one of the first big things to happen in your life, you'll always carry it inside you. Every time something terrible happens to you from then on, it doesn't just stop at the bottom--it goes all the way down."(from eARC so this is subject to change)

It was really hard to do this because I just wanted to put every single quote by Emery Lord and Melina Marchetta on here.Haha! These women have the magic touch with words. But I tried to pull out the ones that felt most relevant and simple and perfect to me, from many different types of books. <3

Monday, April 29, 2019

I had hoped to read more April books this month, but alas. My mood has been so ridiculous lately that I've just been following it without regard for release dates. But I did read these ones in the last two months!

I'd really been hoping to write a full review about this book, but gah. I waited too long. I did REALLY adore it. It's slower in the beginning, almost too slow sometimes. But I think it's totally worth pushing through to get to the heart of this story. Which is that it's about 5 very messy, very complicated teenagers who don't always make the right decisions. But I love them so fucking much. Violet, Justin, Harper, Issac, even May (whom we don't get to know as well as the rest of them, and who *seems* like she hates everyone but really doesn't). None of them purely good, but I love that. They're unapologetically just. Who they are. And their relationships with one another are fraught with distrust and past mistakes and unrequited feelings, but tempered with childhood bonds and the desire to see the others safe. I have NO idea where the ships will actually end up at, and I'm excited to find out. I can get behind like every single pairing, even if I have preferences. Also loved how many of them are queer! And I adored the haunting, mystical-ness of the Gray and how it's the cloud hanging over their heads and they have to defeat it. It's not going to be easy, but neither are these kids. They just have to work together, if they don't kill each other first. 😂

I liked The Takeover Effect, but man, I wish I'd loved it. There was just a lot less romance than I was expecting, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I felt that the stuff with the company was overpowering the relationship between Hem and Mina. So much so that I didn't really believe that they'd fallen in love that fast, especially considering they barely knew each other and they'd hardly spent time together outside of work. AND there was character inconsistencies with Hem, when he got so weirdly possessive a few times. I was like omg dude chill the fuck out. So the romance disappointed me a lot, and I'm SAD. However, I adored the brothers and their banter, and I deeply care about the future of Bharat, Inc. I have a feeling about the next book and who the couple will be, and I'm very excited for it! I just wanted a lot more from this one.

I couldn't NOT do this prompt because I love looking back on my blogging past. However, I will not be sharing my reviews because they're all awful. 😂😂 Also I just went with the first reviews on my blog, and not just what I read on Goodreads at the time because I didn't formally review all of those ones. Haha.

the Archers of Avalon series

These were the books that got me INTO book blogging. Chelsea was doing a reviewer giveaway, so after I read them, I ended up reviewing them. And THUS, I found my true calling in life. This series will always be special because of that. 😍

I had pretty much started devouring all the 2011-2013 big dystopian and fantasies and paranormals, with some self-published and indie books thrown in for good measure. I was just as eclectic a reader as I am now, but I definitely wouldn't love some of these as much as I did then. Some of them don't hold up as well, sadly. But yeah, this prompt was super fun to figure out! Sometimes I think back on my first year or two of blogging and remember it fondly. It was a fucking blast, and I read SO MANY awesome books. :D

Saturday, April 20, 2019

I feel a little bad that most of the posts I've done lately have been these ones, but I just love talking about covers! Especially because it helps me keep track of books :D

Ohhh, these covers are really cool! This isn't my favorite of them, but I like it a lot!

Pub date: February 4th, 2020!*****

Aw, this is such a lovely cover! I almost didn't share it because I don't read picture books, but I couldn't not!Cover art: Aaliya JaleelPub date: October 29th, 2019!*****

omg this is the cutest fucking cover EVER. I love the colors and the illustrations and omg that chonky cat. I can't wait to read this!Cover art: Lorena Alvarez GómezPub date: April 7th, 2020!*****

I don't love this one, and I don't have much to say about it. haha! But I'm excited for the book itself.Cover art: Kathleen OuditPub date: December 17th, 2019!*****

ohhhh, I am SUCH a fan! It's very simple, but elegant, and I love the colors.Designed by: Jake NordbyPub date: December 3rd, 2019!Less covers than normal throughout the week (unless I'm missing some, which is entirely probable). My favorite is ABSOLUTELY Ghost Squad. Middle grade has some of the *best* covers! Which one(s) do you love? :)

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Either there were less covers revealed this week, or I'm slacking on my duties. My money is on the latter because work and life have been so draining, and the last thing I want to do sometimes is scroll through my feed. BUT I did catch these beauties during the past week!

omg I LOVE it! Maybe even more than the first book's cover? just. GAH.

Art by: Sarah Jones

Designed by: Mallory Grigg

Pub date: December 3rd, 2019!

*****

omgggg this is GORGEOUS! I love the colors and the patterns, the birds. I also love the way that the title and author's name are positioned. It's cool!

All my friends hate this one, but I actually like its simplicity and the colors and the keys. I do, however, agree with them that after the beauty of The Night Circus, this one could've been SO much better. 😬Designed by: John FontanaPub date: November 5th, 2019!*****

omg this cover is adorable!!! the queer rep and the faded, quiet colors. ugh, love. ALSO. THIS IS A CONTEMPORARY RETELLING OF THE ORPHEUS MYTH? AND NO ONE TOLD ME? HOW FUCKING DARE!Illustrated by: Dana LedlPub date: October 8th, 2019!So many good covers this week! I think my favorites are Orpheus Girls and Reverie. What about yours? :)

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

From the Den is a feature to showcase the books that I don't post reviews for on the blog, whether I liked them or not. I read so many books that never make it onto The Fox's Hideaway, so I wanted a feature where I could still tell y'all about them. :)

*****

Apparently I just don't want to write long, full reviews at the moment, which is why there are more books on here than usual. But I also spent much of March reading more non-ARCs than I should have. LOL WHOOPS. Anyway, here's what I devoured last month!

I don't know how invested I am in reading the sequel, but I do find this trio's relationships with one another deliciously complicated. I just. I wish the beginning had been different? Because it was completely insta-love for both Greer/Ash, and Greer/Embry. Embry and Ash had a solid, complicated romance spanning a decade, but not with Greer. And I wanted more to those ones. I wanted more time for them to be believable. Something about that just made it hard to care enough, because I was like LOL y'all have known each other all of two seconds. But throughout the story, you can feel the realness with the three of them, and the way that they all love each other, and how difficult it is trying to navigate that. And I didn't always love Ash, and sometimes I wondered why the fuck Greer and Embry cared so much for him. But there are revelations, and he's a layered character, and somehow it just WORKS with them together. I enjoyed this a hella lot! However, I could have done without the addition of the incest. NEVER HERE FOR THAT.

Rating: 3 Paw Prints!

I'm so grateful this ended up in a previous OwlCrate because it wasn't really on my radar. It seemed like a picture book to me? And I don't read those. But omg this was one of the cutest things I've ever read. The artwork is gorgeous, the story is beautiful, and I want my own tea dragon! And it really packs a punch for only being 60 pages. LOVED.

Rating: 4 Paw Prints!

I was not sure how this one would go, and I'm glad to say that I liked it! I wish it'd felt stronger, though. Everything seemed to be going fine, almost too fine. But I was happy with how it ended. I really liked both Josse and Mirabelle, and I could understand their motivations and reasons, and I liked watching them start off as enemies and then turning into allies, and then lovers. My favorite romance trope! And the other characters were great as well, especially the orphans and the terrible but charming Desgrez. But yeah, I just didn't love this, and I kept setting it aside for more exciting books. This one was a lot quieter, even with how much action there was, and I just wanted something more from it.

Rating: 3 Paw Prints!

I liked this! It took awhile to get into the story, though. The beginning was A LOT, and there are many different characters and things going on here. Almost too much for a novella. I wish the characters and relationships had been more developed. But I liked them all, and I'm interested in the sequel. It didn't feel like Ryder's story was done, so I'm curious to see what happens since the next book is Liam's.

Rating: 3 Paw Prints!

This was SUPER fascinating, in a psychological standpoint. But the lead-up to how Jane got her revenge just didn't really satisfy me? And the way that it was written made it a tell book instead, which sometimes hindered the thriller aspect. (Oh, and the reason for the revenge wasn't my favorite. I liked Jane as a character, though, and I don't want to get into it too much here, but she was so different from a lot of people. And I loved the exploration of human beings and emotions and grief. Definitely glad I ended up giving it a try!

Rating: 3 Paw Prints!

What books did you read in March? Have you read any of these yet; what'd you think of them? Let's talk! :)

Monday, April 8, 2019

I'm STOKED to be on the blog tour for the one and only Wicked Saints. I'd hungered for this book ever since the announcement, and I fucking LOVED it. And I'm already dying for the sequel. giveittomenow.gif

“Prepare for a snow-frosted, blood-drenched fairy tale where the monsters steal your heart and love ends up being the nightmare.” - Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched QueenA girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.A prince in danger must decide who to trust.A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings. Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy.“This book destroyed me and I adored it.”- Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval

*****

My Review!

You ever like build up a book so much in your head that when you finally read it, you kind of don’t even know what to think? Not in a bad way, just in a way where you have to sit on the book and your feelings because there is just so much going on, and you’ve wanted it for SO long that you almost can’t believe you even read it? Yeah, that’s where I’m at here with Wicked Saints. It feels like I’ve been waiting literally forever for this book, because I’ve been following Emily since it was announced. And she posts about it ALL THE TIME that I already felt like I knew the characters and the story, and it made me hunger for it. So this book felt almost like coming home, in a way. It felt like reading about people I’ve known and loved all this time, this unholy trio who dares defy gods.

Nadya: willing to risk the gods’ disapproval and anger to save people she cares about, Not Here For Your Heresy, can’t stop won’t stop calling Malachiasz in particular a heretic, is a bit self-righteous but who wouldn’t be when the gods only choose to listen to you, not afraid to fuck shit up and punch people (re: Malachiasz) when they prove distrustful. She’s also not afraid of her feelings, and she spends a lot of time in the book seeing how far she can go before she hates herself. It’s something about her that I loved, because here was this girl who had such a weight on her shoulders but who still chose the hard way out, who still fought for what she believed in. Even if those beliefs started shattering the moment her monastery was destroyed.

Malachiasz: smiles a lot more than I was expecting to be honest, offers girls jackets in the cold, fluent in sarcasm, a Tranavian abomination who has no business invading Kalyazin, has no problems lying and manipulating, turns into a monster when he’s fighting his own kind, would prefer you think him cold and uncaring rather than a boy who just wants to stop a war and take back control of his life. *flails because Malachiasz is a disaster* and he [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]!!! I’m not sure what to THINK about him, but I do know that love villains, and I’m so ready to see just how far he goes before he can’t find his way back to himself. And to his people. *screams because ALL THE FEELINGS! but spoilers!*

Serefin: not actually a cinnamon roll prince omg, would rather be anywhere than his family’s palace, drinks too much, hates showing his weaknesses, is self-deprecating but has a charming wit, loathes his father, wishes people would take him seriously even when he won’t do it for himself, probably better at blood magic than you are, my precious queer boy. You get so many glimpses of Serefin as the book progresses, from the bloodthirsty general to the playboy prince to the drunk who can’t seem to stop getting himself into situations that Sober Serefin would yell about to the son of a bastard king who only cares about keeping his power. He’s got pain and rage behind that loathsome exterior, but he refuses to show you that.

There was just a big group of characters, but they were all easily their own person. Parijahan and Rashid are Malachiasz’s travel companions, and they become friends with Nadya. I ADORE them. Rashid is funny and comforting, and Parijahan has a sharp intelligence that hides so much that I want to know. There’s also Kacper (my baby) and Ostiya and Zeneta, Tranavians who are some of Serefin’s closest confidantes. The only people he can trust, tbh. I’m a bit sorry to say I paid more attention the main three (even though Malachiasz doesn’t have a POV, but I never said I wasn’t biased, I am just saying here).

I shipped Nadya and Malachiasz so damned much omg. Their banter and intensity and hate-to-possibly-love was just *chef’s kiss* It was slow burn, but not slow burn. It was a lot of back-and-forth anger and calling each other names and generally stating how much they despise one another while also freaking out if the other’s in trouble. *whispers* my jam. And if I’m not mistaken, I think Serefin and Kacper are in love??? Listen, I want this ship, and it better fucking set sail in book two! Anyway, since there are so many characters you can basically ship them all together, and that’s really the best thing about it.

jk there’s more, the book is so immersive without adding too much information too fast, and the author weaves in the elements of the worlds effortlessly. I loved the little paragraphs at the beginnings of the chapters, the stories about the saints and the gods. And there are religious tones to the story, but it takes those and twists them and reminds you that things are far more complicated than just right or wrong. I was also really happy Emily has a pronunciation guide on her website because that helped SO much. (I kept having to look at it every few pages because I’d forget how the names went, but shhhh).

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT ENDING. EMILY DUNCAN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE. I’M STILL IN SOME SHOCK EVEN THOUGH I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING. omg what a sharp move to shake the very foundations of what usually happens and go for the throat. There is nothing I love more than being thrown around like that, even if it’s k i l l i n g me. It’s kind of how I felt about The Wicked King, to be honest. I want more books that see your absolute adoration and raise you total devastation in the form of characters who have no qualms about going after their own twisted ambitions.

*****

You can buy the book here, and you can find a pronunciation guide on Emily's website! And trust me, you WANT this story. :D

About the Author:

EMILY A. DUNCAN works as a youth services librarian. She received a Master’s degree in library science from Kent State University, which mostly taught her how to find obscure Slavic folklore texts through interlibrary loan systems. When not reading or writing, she enjoys playing copious amounts of video games and dungeons and dragons. Wicked Saints is her first book. She lives in Ohio.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

This week's topic: Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book*with recommendations both new and old and not-yet-out because I'm great like that :D*

1. hate-to-love

It's my WEAKNESS, and if there's any book that even *hints* that this might be a thing, I'm all over it.2. f/f romances

I mean, all the queer romances in general, but especially f/f ones because we always need more of them! and especially in fantasy!3. found families

I'm a firm believer that family doesn't just mean blood-related, but the people you choose as well. so I'm a big fan of books with families who aren't ~conventional~ and bonus points if it involves a heist ;)4. diversity!on all counts, I want to read stories that aren't just about cishet white people because how boring is that???5. favorite authorNothing will make me smack that to-read button faster than knowing it's by someone I love!6. dragons!

If it's got dragons in it, I WANT IT. (also pretty sure the first two books here are also f/f, so you know it's even better)7. mental health rep

I love books that tackle MIs in big ways and small ways, and I'm so HERE for other genres being explored with characters who are mentally ill.8. royalty + royalty running away from their duties

I know that monarchies are SUPER overused in all genres, but I love them so much omg. I love the play on them, the conflict of tradition vs. heart, the princesses and princes who just want to do what they want and be who they are.9. girl powergimme those patriarchal-smashing stories! also love it when this means girl power friendships as well!10. morally gray characters/antagonists/villains

I always and forever want the dark stories, the characters who do bad things for good reasons and the ones who do bad things for bad reasons too. ALL OF IT!

What are some of the things that make YOU super excited about a book? Would any of these make your list? Let's talk! :)

hi, hello, welcome!

I'm Holly, the blogger behind The Fox's Hideaway. I love to read, write, play video games, and Netflix. I spend way too much time binge-watching TV shows I never finish, procrastinating life, and disappearing into the pages of a book for hours on end. I started this blog as a way to give myself a creative outlet for writing and talk books with people who "get" it. And it's since become one of the biggest passions I have, and it humbles me that you're here and reading this short little paragraph right now. I hope you'll stick around as I rant and rave and stumble through adulthood. :D

Want to find out more about me? Check out the "Who's the Fox?" tab! You can also find my blog button there as well. :)

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